MEDIA RELEASE

Tim Morris MHA. Tasmanian Greens
Wednesday, 15 November 2006

WELD VALLEY VIGIL POLICE RAID FLAGS INDUSTRY MOVES TO CONTINUE FOREST DESTRUCTION OVER SUMMER

The Tasmanian Greens today have described as excessive the large police raid early this morning on the forests vigil which has been established in the Weld Valley forests for over the last year, and have also raised concerns that the implementation of an exclusion zone is apparently preventing media outlets from witnessing the police attempts to remove protesters saying that if this is the case it is a disturbing removal of a safeguard for the protesters and a restriction of freedom of the press.

Greens Shadow Native Forests spokesperson Tim Morris MHA warned that this police raid to clear the vigil site indicates that Forestry is about to embark on a strategic push to destroy high conservation value forests, for which there is now no market in Japan, in order to prevent further protection.

"The Greens believe that this excessive police action to remove a peaceful vigil from our world-class forests in the Weld Valley, is being done at the behest of the logging industry which is impatient to be able to get in over the summer months and destroy these forests before too many people get used to the idea that the Weld forests could and should be protected," Mr Morris said.

"This morning's over-the-top dawn raid smacks of clearing the deck for the strategic destruction of these high value conservation forests, to get underway in an attempt to prevent them ever receiving national park or World Heritage status as recommended by experts for the last twenty years."

"I am also alarmed by reports that an extensive exclusion zone has been slapped onto the area from the Weld site to the Southwood site, which effectively prevents members of the public and the media from witnessing the attempts by the police to remove the protesters, which historically has been recognised widely as a safeguard for all participants."

"This also prevents journalists getting film and photographic footage of the magnificent, threatened forests and the forced removal of their protectors and beaming it out to an interested public," Mr Morris said.

"The Tasmanian Government is blind to the knowledge that retention our natural forests are our best defence against the reality of impending climate change and the destruction of these forests adds significantly to the problem."

"The removal of the locals who were peacefully protecting the forests is a waste of valuable police resources, police have much better things to be doing, solving crimes and protecting the public rather than being used as logging industry puppets," Mr Morris said.